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February 29, 2024 · 47 min · Patria Sermons
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Adam Mesa is Lead Pastor of Patria Church and speaks to a congregation of 12,000 about how the gospel of Jesus Christ brings purpose to every life. Patria
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Community Engagement and Addressing Questions 0:01 Welcome to the ALSC podcast. Here at ALSC, we seek the lost, teach the found, and send the disciples. We truly hope you are encouraged by this week's message.0:13 How did everybody enjoy their table discussions? You guys enjoy? So so glad, you guys are here, and I'm so glad to see those online. They were so0:25 active, in the chat, and, it's it's just so great even those online engaging with the community whether because you're at work late or you you're just out of the area or you just couldn't make it.0:37 In person is so great. We got this going on in Pomona campus as well. So it's beautiful to see that, people came and really took it serious to want to have, conversation with, other people in their church and in the0:48 body. I'll get look at all these questions. Here's the thing. Here's I'll tell you this like we always say in our Beyond the Letter nights. If for some reason we can't get to your question, you can always email us or1:00 DM us and say, hey, this was a really important question that I really wanted guidance for. I wasn't just asking, for it to be on stage. I was really asking because I wanted to know. And so,1:12 if that's ever the case, you can always reach out to us and and we'll we'll we'll address it as best as possible. We have about 30 or so written ones or maybe 50 or so now filled gucked up1:24 with with more. So we'll have a backlog as well, you know. I'll look through them in a second after we do the first 1 and I'll and I'll pick some out. And as you know, unlike our normal1:36 ones, people read in. We obviously prepared for those, verses. But we're gonna first take the ones you guys are asking here live today. And so those are1:48 gonna probably be answered a little bit more rough because it's almost as if you were just asking us 1 on 1. You're gonna get our raw thoughts in that moment rather than something we could have thought about for, you1:58 know, 15, 20 minutes before service type of thing. And so, I'm excited to dig into these with you guys, and I really feel like I'll say this off the bat. From the written questions, we might do2:10 1 tonight, but it seems like for whatever reason right now, because we we were doing this all last year once a month, but for this 1, it seemed like more times than ever, a lot of people had a lot of LGBTQ2:23 questions. And so, we would really have to give the whole night to answer everyone. We probably had about 30 questions around different ways that people are asking questions about the LGBTQ community. I'll launch off2:35 with 1 that someone just wrote and submitted, but, what I think will probably happen is if you know about the podcast that happens on YouTube and Spotify, beyond the letter, we'll probably have to in the next week or so2:46 dedicate an entire episode just talking about answering those questions. Okay? There's about 30 of them and about 15 of them are unique on their own. And so, I want to be able to answer them, but we couldn't it'd be2:58 a disservice to answer it in 60 seconds. So I just want to give you ahead of time, we will probably in the next week or 2 do a separate entire podcast on our Beyond the Letter podcast, working through the questions that3:08 many of you guys have about thinking through the LGBTQ community. I'll take a first question that, someone, had asked, and there's so much more that we could say about it, but I'll just dig in on this 1 right away since3:20 someone's asking it, is, what is the church's stance, on transgender? Are transgender people welcome here? And do you give guidance to them? Really3:34 relevant question as well is because we just finished a series about God's favorite marriages. 1 of the on my personal DM's, 1 of the things that I got,3:46 not a lot of questions, but a significant amount of questions of people saying, hey, Pastor Adam. You and Pastor Diego keep referencing the marriage between a husband and a wife. Why aren't you referencing any of the3:58 other relationships and marriages, and helping people have healthy relationships in the in an LGBTQ lifestyle? And so that's a very relevant and important question to ask4:09 because you're right. In our series on marriage, we talked about the traditional view of marriage, which is between a man and a wife, between a male and a female. And that was very4:21 purposeful, because our our church, we would be a biblically fundamental conservative church that believes that the proper relationship that God created us for,4:34 would be between a man and a woman. God's purpose for that, and there's a reason. And I know in the, and we've done a lot of podcasts talking about this and stuff like4:45 that, but I know in the popular setting in America that we're in, that that's a very hot topic to talk about. But, the reason, and 1 of the things we recently updated our growth track book, where we address4:57 sexuality, because a lot of new believers are asking that question because that's what society is talking about right now. And so I could go way deeper into an apologetic approach, and if5:09 you're ever wondering our our church's actual stance on LGBTQ, all you got to do is go on YouTube, and you could type in Abundant Living Family Church, hot topics, homosexuality. And5:21 about 4 years ago, we did an entire 50 minute sermon talking about God's view of sexuality in today's age. And so for us, our trans our our our same position in5:33 that in terms of a transgender community, we would hold to the same. There are many scriptures where God defines the sexuality of a man and a woman. And and it's not in the sense of whether,5:45 you know, a man that likes to, match his clothes or interior design. That's not what God's talking about in terms of sexuality. God's talking about sexuality in terms of identity.5:57 That's what God cares about when it comes to sexuality. And so the reason why we would hold an approach that God's desire is male and female is because that is God's given identity that he has6:09 given to humanity from the point of Genesis. He created Adam, and he created Eve. He did not create in humanity a deviation from that. Anything that would come out of that6:20 would come what we would say after the fall. And so there is sin held intrinsically inside of that. And so we do not hold sin on any high regard. There is not 1 sin that's on a higher sinful6:32 path than another. Marriage is the is in the same placement of sin and and falling short of God's glory as the person6:44 who's in an LGBTQ lifestyle. God doesn't say, oh man, that person over there is far gone, but that guy living with his girlfriend, he's like medium gone. God doesn't6:55 Right.6:56 God didn't do that. It's like we've all have fallen short and we all need God's grace. We all need the gospel. So our approach here, and we've had them, we've come, and I have family members in the LGBT community.7:06 They'll, many will come, and we do. We welcome here. The question is, are they welcome here? The answer is 100 percent someone in the LGBT community as well. They come to7:15 service on Sundays, they come on Wednesdays, they sit in the front row, they sit in the back row.7:21 They're in our youth ministry. It's everywhere, just like there are people in this room who are, addicted. There are people that'll be addicted to alcohol, addicted to pornography, addicted to7:32 hate, and and we don't really run we don't say, hey, before you come into church today7:37 Right.7:37 When was the last time you were drunk?7:39 Come on. Right.7:40 When was the last time you watched porn? That's why we need to know, because if you watched it last night, we have a seat in the far back for you. And no. You are welcome here. But there are7:52 degrees of confession of faith that we have to have in order, what I would say, to go deeper in the church. Because when I go deeper into the church, say serving or leading or on staff, what I'm beginning to say is,8:04 I have rejected fully my sinful self. I'm not just talking about lgbt lifestyle. I'm talking about Adam's womanizing. I'm talking about Adam's pornography addictions in the past. I'm talking about Adam's8:16 desire to get blackout drunk. In order for me to lead, I've had to say, God, I'm leaving that past behind to receive you. And so, the qualifications8:28 to see God begin to move in our life is to accept the gospel, and to accept the gospel says, I have fallen short of the glory of God and I need a savior named Jesus.8:43 Lifestyle and and life cycle, we're gonna say, hey, you're you're welcome. And I'll go to coffee with you, and I'll go to lunch with you, and we can talk, and I'll pray with you, and I'll hug with you. But then as we go8:53 further, I may have some deeper convictions that I will that I'll share with you as you would probably share with me. And so that's the short answer that I would. And so would I give someone guidance if someone walked up9:04 to me right away and said, Hey, just so you know, which has happened before. I'm in the LGBTQ lifestyle. I'd say, okay. What do you want to talk about? I don't know.9:13 Well, I9:13 just want to tell you that in case you want to reject me. I don't want to reject you. Jesus wouldn't reject you. I'm I'm here to talk with you. I want to love you. I want to I want to help you understand God's perfect9:24 plan for your life. And and the only way I could do that is by having a conversation with you and loving you as best as I can without relinquishing my own convictions. That's what I can do. And so, anyone want to put any9:36 other meat on that? No. Okay.Understanding God's Will and Life's Challenges 9:39 I will say this. Yeah. I think there's a difference between, acceptance and agreement. I accept you as a transgender, but I don't agree with your lifestyle. So as Jesus model that, he he9:51 tells us to love people where they're at. And so I think you really gotta get to that place of, like, seeing grace in that that, you know, I don't, you know, I don't, agree with your lifestyle, but I do accept you as a10:02 person. So Yeah.10:05 That's great. Thanks, Petra. That's great. And you may say, you got you I want you to go deeper on it. We can in another time and we will or else I'd be we'd be here all night. For sure. Let's10:16 see. Let's see. I'm trying to look at these right questions. I had it to, well, let's do this 1. If anyone could reference, someone even asked this on my, Instagram yesterday.10:28 How can you tell the difference between gods' will and your own short10:42 answer would be that it's in here, and that it matches what the word of God says. If it doesn't match what the word of God says, then it would be something of like our own desire. So I think that10:54 we, you know, sometimes go is this something that I want or is this or am I hearing from the Holy Spirit or is that just me, you know, trying to convince myself of something to do? It's like, well, does it align with the11:05 word of God? Does it give you peace? I think that that's really important. When you have something that, comes about and it and it it it causes you anxiety and it causes you,11:18 frustration, oftentimes that's not the will of God. The will of God is always gonna be in here. And if the the the first check mark would be if it has some if11:29 if what you want and it is your will and it does not align here, then it you can just go ahead and cross that off the list because that's not gonna align with God's will. But anyone wanna add anything? That's that's the11:41 that's the intro to what you're gonna11:42 talk about. No. No. I think I think you I think you covered really the the meat of it. You can read books and books that people have written on what's God's will for your life because I think that's really11:54 what this question is kinda asking. What's God's will and how do I differentiate between that and what's something I want? And and if you're reading, you know, the right book, a lot of times they're just saying, well, if12:04 you follow the Bible and you, you know, you're and you're you're not in sin and you're, you know, you're you're following God's commandments and you're really seeking after God, you have a heart after God, it's it's12:15 really what you do whatever you whatever you want because you're aligning yourself with God. That's really what the goal is is to align your thoughts, align your desires with God through his word,12:27 through praying to him, through seeking his spirit, through through those things. And so what's God's will and what's your fruit? Well, you just hope there's alignment there so your desires are his desires. And so12:38 there's not really a big, math equation you have to figure out to see what's your free will, where does it start, and where does it end. Because even in the Bible, if you're talking about, you know, where's God's12:47 sovereignty and where does where do I fit in the picture, the Bible doesn't show you where those paths cross. It never shows you where exactly you you connect the dots there. You just live out your life in a godly12:59 way and things should follow that and come after that. I hope that helps. I don't13:04 know if that if that helps at all. That's great. Yeah.13:06 I think people try to make it more complicated than it is. Right. We all have access to this Bible and we all can read what it says, but a lot of times we get in our own way and we try to13:18 sort of manipulate to fit what it is that we want to do. And so if we're having to tweak and and and and bend and all of these things, it's it's not that13:30 compliment. You're talking about you could read all these self help book, but you are you are seeking out something that fits into your own mold as opposed to13:42 fixing yourself to match what the word of God says. It's not complicated.13:47 Yeah. That's right.13:49 Yeah. That's great. In that same vein, I'll continue with a question because it probably has something to do with some things about God's will and God's perspective on things. So this person asked a question which maybe14:00 maybe it's a personal question. Feel like your life is falling apart on every turn, that you a cursive14:12 word I can't read that you wrote on there? But the end word. But what do you do when you feel like your your life is falling apart on every turn? Anyone would give some some thoughts on that, which14:24 would probably align also with that idea of will of God because we have a we sometimes have a famous construct to say, if if it feels like my life's falling apart, then maybe I'm not in the will of God14:36 or maybe I'm out of God's will or maybe I'm fully in the flesh. And, you know, then you start that wrestle season like the book of Job, begins to talk about, which is this wrestle that Job has where his friends are14:48 coming in and they're all trying to decipher why does your life why is everything going wrong? Why have you lost everything? And everyone has an opinion on what's going on.15:00 Right? And and that that that in that the book of Job is actually the historically chronologically known as the oldest book of15:11 Job is even before Abraham. And so, for 5000 years, we have still been having that same conversation of when things go wrong in my life, if it consistently goes wrong,15:24 what am I doing wrong, or what does God have against me? That's the natural inclination that people tend to lean with and think. And so outside of the book of Job, what are what are, what are some thoughts you guys15:36 have on on that approach of thinking?15:42 Yeah. The first15:43 You can tell because we're asking it in the spot, so you have to like take a second and be like, alright. Let me not mess this up.15:49 My first thought was, was, hope. I thought about hope. Like anchoring your life, and and your hope in in Jesus. And and that's what an anchor does. Anchor stabilizes16:00 you through the storms of life, but it also keeps you from drifting away. And so I think biblically, you know, like anchoring my life in this hope, because hope is confident expectation that God16:12 will do what he does in his word and his promises are true. And so,16:17 when16:17 you're reading that question that came to mind, like, okay, this person maybe has to anchor his hope a little more and and be grounded in that in that in that thought of, like, where am I putting my hope in? Because16:28 there there's worldly hope is just wishful thinking. Right? Yeah. I hope that I'm a get better, but godly hope is is saying I have this confident expectation that though I go through the trials and storms16:40 and and turns and and difficulty of life, that that I have someone to anchor my hope in. So that that's that's my biblical answer.16:46 And I I think what's beautiful if, if we could clap on that, I don't want to cut it off, but I think what's beautiful is like, to what you're saying pastor here is when you read the book of Job, and the reason why the16:58 book of Job is so amazing, if you've never read read it, I encourage you to read it, is it's this story where the book of Job, this man, is successful on all accounts. He's got great17:09 family, he's got great wife, he's got earthly material things, and wealth beyond comparison. And and the adversary approaches God, and and he says, listen.17:21 The only reason why this guy Job is devoted to you is because he's getting hooked up by you. That's the like, who wouldn't love you if they had everything? And God says, well, I give you17:33 permission. You can short of killing him, you you could do whatever you wanna do and and and we'll see if your thesis is true. And so that's what happens. The adversary comes down and17:45 he does everything. He takes his money away, he takes his family away, and he's got friends that come around and they go, man, I know you just got a lot of sin in your life. That's why it's happening. And we know it's17:57 not true. He doesn't have sin in his life. Oh, I know it's because for some reason you're you haven't been honoring God in your life, and so you haven't been sacrificing enough for God. And so God's taking it all back.18:08 We know that's not true. So then Job begins to spend these stanzas in the book of Job, where now he begins to discuss with God himself. He starts questioning things18:20 about God. He starts asking God where he's at in things, and and God almost uses this sarcasm with Job to say, oh yeah, I forgot Job. Maybe you were there when I created the heavens, earth. That's why you know what18:32 why I do what I do. Oh, yeah, Job. I forgot. Were you there when I created all of the whales and all of the beasts of the field? Oh, yeah. You weren't there, Job. And so, reminding him,18:44 I have a bigger purpose in all things. And you'll notice breakthrough happens, about the second or third of the last chapter of the book of Job, When Job18:56 finally makes a realization and this is what he says, paraphrasing. He he he says, a last lord. Everything that you do is far too big for me to understand. You are19:08 far more involved in your creation than I ever could be. You are far more caring and considerate than I ever could understand. So therefore, God,19:20 my life is completely in your hands. I will not question anymore your purpose in this world. You are who you are, and I'm satisfied with who you are. That's19:31 immediately when God said, now that's faith Job. That's what faith is, Joe. So therefore now, I'll put the adversary to the side and I'll put him at bay because you've19:43 exercised hope, also faith, you've exercised hope to say in the things you don't understand, you still know I care, and you still know I'm in control. And then what does God do? He19:55 blesses Job a hundred fold. Not because of what Job figured out, but because what he was willing to hope for. Which is to say, God, your plans are bigger than mine. Yeah. And your purpose20:07 is bigger than mine. So when it feels like there's something going along around every corner, yeah, I could sit there and figure out and say, oh, is it because I gave that person the middle finger at the market? That's20:17 why God's doing this. Or that You could do that all day long, but guess what? If you start thinking about all your sins, guess what? You'll be there a long time. And trust me, we do deserve all those20:29 things. And so it's that sense to say, hands. I trust you. You know the plan that that Jeremiah 29 11 comes, with a promise with 4020:40 years of complete hell that the people of Israel are gonna do. They're gonna go through. If you ever quote Jeremiah 29 11 over your life, you know, these are the plans I have for you to prosper you. Just remember that20:52 that is a promise 40 years before the people of Israel are about to go through. So if you quote that verse over your life, what you're saying is, God, even if I go through hell, I know21:04 that there is something on the other side of it. It's not a promise that you will never go through anything. It's a promise that says, when I go through it, the Lord is on the other side.21:14 Yep.Navigating Relationships and Catholicism 21:15 Can you make it to the other side? That's the question. Can your faith in Christ take you to the end of the 40 years, or whatever that would look like? That's the question we have to ask. Was21:27 going wrong in every corner. I'd say, God, sustain me to whatever the end of this is. Just just keep me. I don't want to give up on you. I don't want to walk away from you. Just strengthen me. You You know, whatever I'm21:39 going through in a marriage or my family or work or whatever it is, God sustain me through however this season is. And then use prayer as an activator of faith. Bible says write the vision. Make it plain. And so what21:51 you are believing God for, make it very in that hope. So22:00 Can I just add? Can I add that you you talked about Jeremiah 29 and and that was such a great illustration because you know when the Israelites were exiled into22:12 Babylon before that verse that we all you know cheerly say We22:15 have it on our Instagram bio?22:17 Right. You know for I know the plans that I have for you. And they they were in such a dark place. But God also told them that they have to settle there and they have to22:26 Yeah.22:26 Get married and have children and their children have children and and then make peace with their with their enemies and all of these things. They had to keep going on, not completely give up on what it is. We don't22:38 in those moments where we feel like our life is falling apart. We can't just be like I quit God until you come. And then he says for I know the plans that I have for you. And then right after that he says that,22:51 you will search for me and you will find me if you search for me with your whole heart. So there is instruction when it comes to when we're in our exile That we need to when23:03 you're thinking about that your world is falling apart remember that you have to keep going, you have to continue, you have to make peace with your adversaries whether that's you know in the in the spiritual23:14 or physically with other people. And we have to search for God with our whole heart and he promises that we will find him in that exile and23:26 in that moment.23:28 That's good. Alright. Let me do this 1. We get a lot we got beginning a lot of these these ones too as well, dealing with Catholicism. We we more than in the past 12 months, we've had more Catholics23:40 come to our church and give their life to Christ than we have any other type of group of people over the past. So, I believe that there is some type of revival happening with within Catholicism23:51 and potentially coming out of Catholicism, however you want to define it. And so this question is, what advice do you have Catholic that is looking for a stronger connection to God that they don't feel like is24:03 happening in the Catholic church and looking for a new place of worship. This is a great question because this is, really when I'm outside after I preach, right now, pray.24:15 Right now, probably 30 percent of all the questions that I get from people out in the courtyard after service have to do with someone coming out of Catholicism and trying to process what the Protestant Christian24:43 so there's all these type of questions that people that come in out of Catholicism. 1 of the things you'll notice about the Catholic church right now is, they're trying to advance, kind of a marketing look where24:55 they're trying to make Catholicism look appealing, and make it look modern. And so you'll see that with like the all these ads with the Halo Hollow app. And if you saw the Super Bowl, they did an ad25:06 with Mark Wahlberg and Jonathan Rumi, the guy who plays Jesus on the chosen, because he's a Catholic. And so they're they're they're, you know, the top 3 podcasts in religion category right now are with, Friar,25:19 Friar Mark Schmitz, which he just does bible in a day. And so they're they're trying to advance in technology to to appeal Catholicism. The only problem is is and we've we've talked about many times the difference25:30 between Protestantism and Catholicism, is that when they actually get into the Catholic church now, there's nothing modern about it. And so it goes right back into religion, it goes right back into structure, it goes25:42 right back into the adoration of saints, it goes right back into putting Mary on this, godlike pedestal. It immediately goes to following the pope where the pope tomorrow can come up with new scripture, and it's called25:53 ex cathedra. He can add to the bible by just his own voice and his own quim. Those are all things that protestants squirm at. And go, woah. The Pope is on the authority of26:05 the of Jesus Christ and what he can add to the Bible. Jesus said that not a jot or tittle will be added to the word and the gospel. And so there are many questionable things that,26:18 Catholic Church. But the question is, moving into a new place of worship, coming out of Catholicism, well, what I would recommend anyone to do, anyone coming out of Catholicism or in Catholicism looking26:30 for, an organic relationship with the Lord is start to make your relationship with God personal. You do not need a human to get to26:42 God.26:42 Yeah. That's good.26:44 All you need is Jesus Christ. And it's by the spirit of God. And so even when those come out of Catholicism, they're like, Pastor Adam, you just need to pray for this, and I know26:56 it'll make the difference. And I'm like, you may have been the Catholic church or whatever circle you've come from, you may think that I'm a special guy. I'm not. You are just as anointed,27:08 just as called, just as capable to pray for the sick as I am. The elders or leaders in the church have had spent more time in the spirit and developing our27:20 gifts within the kingdom of God, yes, we may know how to do it in a way, but that doesn't mean that we're more powerful than you. It's not a Harry Potter movie, right? It's not 1 wizard more powerful than the other. But27:31 because we're American Gospel, we like to celebritize and celebrity pastors, and pedestals, and think that they have some type of power, normal Christian can't have. And that's false. That's a lie from the27:43 enemy, where the enemy wants you to think that you don't have the spirit on a daily basis. Wants you to think that you are incapable of access to God on your own. Good. Which you are.27:56 And so someone who's in Catholicism, they have somewhat, believed that they always need a mediator, they always need a saint, they always need a priest, they always need a confessional, and, it's simply28:08 not true. And so someone who's coming at Catholicism is expecting you to answer, what Protestant church can give me access to God? And the reality is, is there is no church that could give you access to God28:19 outside of Christ. Jesus is the only 1 that can give you access to Christ. So fully trust in the gospel of Jesus. Open the bible, begin to read it,28:31 get a devotional bible where someone's helping you understand the scriptures deeper. Listen to sermons, not sermons that are there just to tickle your ears, but sermons that are there to help you grow your personal28:43 relationship with God and challenge you to say, hey, how can I look more like Jesus? And I would encourage any Catholic person, the more29:01 and you can have that experience in your closet at 5, true Same moment you can have doing communion in true you could do that at and you could celebrate the death29:13 and resurrection of Jesus whenever you want. And so it's encouraging people to say, hey and maybe walking that person with a Catholic, why don't you and I on Mondays meet up for coffee at 4 PM and and and and we'll just29:24 start to walk our faith out together. Because more than likely they'll be like, I never did that before. All all I did was go to mass once a year or twice a year and as long as I did my confessions, I thought I29:36 was good. It's like, no. Let's go deeper than that. And they'll really start to see a transformation, in their life in a in a very deeper way. So, hopefully that answers a lot. We actually have about 10 questions onShow more In this video 0:00 Community Engagement and Addressing Questions9:38 Understanding God's Will and Life's Challenges21:14 Navigating Relationships and Catholicism29:43 Legal and Relational Boundaries41:47 Invitation to Faith and Closing Remarks
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